Not that anyone asked, but I’m feeling controversial today, so here is my take on five popular “conversations”:

Date Nights for Couples
Eh, we go out without our kids maybe once every six months. I think the emphasis on date nights for couples is inflated and unnecessary and that it’s very, very possible to have a healthy marriage without them. That said, I do think that making your marriage a priority, which I think is the real purpose behind date nights, is very, very important.  Other ways to do the same thing:

:: Make a point to talk on the phone or send emails to each other during the day, just to connect and say hey.

:: Have “date nights” at home. Make a special meal and eat it after the kids are in bed, watch a movie and share a snack, sit on the porch and snuggle, have a Mario Kart tournament…just spend time together.

:: Show your kids that your marriage is a priority. It’s okay to send your kids off to play because “Daddy and Mommy are talking right now”.

:: Dream together about the future.

Tummy Sleeping
I’ll admit it. All three of my girls were tummy sleepers, and I fully expect our newest baby to sleep on her tummy too. My reasons, in no particular order:

:: Reflux. When you have a baby who repeatedly gags on their spit up while laying on her back, it doesn’t take you long to decide that’s not the best position for them.

:: They sleep better. Almost all babies sleep better on their tummies, and I trust that God knew what he was doing when He created them that way.

:: SIDS strikes in all positions. It’s a sad and horribly tragic fact, but babies have even died while in their mother’s arms and many die on their backs each year.

:: Tummy time. Tummy time came about as a direct result of the Back to Sleep campaign as more and more babies experienced delays because being on their tummy is an important part of their development.

:: The facts. I know that “they” tout statistics showing the dramatic decrease in SIDS death with the Back to Sleep campaign. What they don’t tell you is that those statistics are all circumstantial, with no scientific proof that the Back to Sleep campaign is the cause. I tend to think it has more to do with the increasing awareness of the dangers of second hand smoke and blankets in the crib and the fact that suffocation deaths began being tracked separately all in the same timeframe.

Do I think *you* should put your baby to sleep on his or her tummy? Nope. That’s a choice only you can make, and you need to feel very strongly about it before you do it so that if – God forbid – something should happen you aren’t left with one more reason to blame yourself.

Car Seats
I hate bucket seats/carriers. There, I said it. We now use a convertible car seat for our girls from the moment of birth, and I much prefer it. I unstrap them and stick them in a sling when we arrive at our destination, and our arms thanks us. LOL!

We also leave our babies rear-facing for as long as possible. The fact is that it’d be safer for adults to ride rear-facing, but that’s not very realistic. While we turned Pumpkin Doodle around the minute she hit 20 lbs, we’ve been much slower to turn the rest of the girls, and my guess is Sweet Doodle will turn around when Sidney’s born, because we’ll move her to the third row of the truck at that point.

Vaccines
We vaccinate. Vaccinations not only keep individuals healthy, but they also contribute to the health of society as a whole. Do I believe vaccinations cause autism? No. Do I believe they contribute somehow? Yes, there has to be a link because there are just too many anecdotal stories to ignore, in my opinion. That said, I think  chances are that there is a genetic factor at play as well as an environmental one, and vaccines may be just one more thing that can trigger it.

Although we do vaccinate, we do it on our own terms. I don’t do the Hep A? B? (can’t remember) in the hospital at birth, and I tend to spread the rest out rather than lumping them together. With Parker’s ITP diagnosis, we delayed her most recent set of shots until she’s 2. It’s not so much the autism link that makes us do this as much as it just seems like a lot for a little body to handle.

Breast or Bottle?

Um, I’m lazy and cheap, and I can’t imagine why anyone would choose to bottle feed for those reasons. I was bottle fed, though, so it’s kind of hard for me to rant about how horrible it is for children anyway. I think I turned out *okay*. LOL!

I hate to pump, and Sweet Doodle never had a single bottle. That said, while I love nursing a newborn, around 7 or 8 months or so I start to get tired of it, and by a year I’m ready to be done. I’ve never been sad when I weaned one of the girls, and I don’t see myself ever nursing for much longer than a year.

I think that’s enough controversy for now. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments – no bashing either point of view on any of the “issues,” though!